The Fresh Faces Of The Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings in 2012 had a great rookie class, and they were a big reason for the team's success. In this year's training camp, the Vikes are grooming a whole new group of rookies, including 3 first round draft picks.

In this year's draft, the Vikings went out and got 3 playmakers at 3 important positions, Wide Receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, Defensive Tackle Sharrif Floyd, and cornerback Xavier Rhodes. Now they are in Training Camp getting ready for the season, and while they have all the talent, being in the NFL is a learning process.

"It's coming along, it's not where it should be. We still have a lot of time for it to get there, but at the end of the day, we know we are going to be there, we work really hard at practice, just trying to compete and just trying to get better," Wide Receiver Cordarrelle Patterson said.

Patterson was the 29th overall pick and the Vikings traded back into the first round to get him. He has explosive ability, but it would mean nothing if he wasn't on the same page with starting Quarterback Christian Ponder, and the wideout is happy with how they are gelling.

"I say it's good, Christian...he's a great guy, he always tells me to be patient with myself cause in college I liked to rush things and get out of the break, but he tells me to just be patient and it's gonna come to you," Patterson said.

On the defensive line, Floyd was the 23rd overall pick, who was praised for his quickness for a 300 pound lineman. He has an all-pro teammate at his position in Kevin Williams, and the former Florida Gator is taking advantage of his teammate.

"I talk to Kevin {Williams} every chance I get. He's been doing it for awhile, he knows a little bit of a little bit, so I get under him every chance to just talk to him, talk a little ball with him," Defensive Tackle Sharrif Floyd said.

In the secondary the Vikings took Rhodes with the 25th pick. Defensive Coordinator Alan Williams points out all you have to do is look at him too see what he brings to a team.

"He's big, he's long, he has a great attitude. We talk here about being a smart football player, every indicator shows that he is going to be physical," Defensive Coordinator Alan Williams said.

While getting used to the NFL game is hard work, especially for first year players, the newest members of the Minnesota Vikings are happy to be wearing purple.

"Really glad to be here, glad to be a Viking, and just learning every day. It's a great experience," Floyd said.

And you can see how the rookies perform when they play their first pre-season game August 9th against the Houston Texans.